Customer Reviews

NIV Dramatized Audio Bible

5 star:		(144)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Consisting of 64 audio CDs in plastic sleeves in a zippered box, here you have the entire text of the NIV Bible in audio format. A brief overview of the strengths, weaknesses, and benefits of this great product:

Strengths:
1. Overall it is very respectful.
2. The voices are generally not overly dramatic, and yet sufficiently expressive.
3. The voices are very clear and pleasant to listen to.
4. The music and sounds are mostly calm, appropriate and respectful.
5. Using different voices for different speakers enhances the hearing of the text and the listening experience.
6. There are different narrators for different Bible books, giving some variety in style.
7. The text is exactly the NIV text, word for word.
8. There are helpful brief introductions to each Bible book.
9. Each chapter is on a separate track, so it is easy to select which chapter to listen to.

Weaknesses:
1. The sounds and music are sometimes overly dramatized, occasionally detracting from the Biblical text.
2. The vocalization of "selah" in the Psalms is unnecessary and somewhat annoying.
3. The decision as to which voices should be used is sometimes subjective and interpretive (eg what verses of the Song of Solomon are to be attributed to the different speakers is a controversial and difficult exegetical matter). To be fair, the audio Bible simply follows the interpretation suggested in the headings of the NIV translation, so this is more of an issue with the translation, not the recording.
4. Although the chapters that are on each CD are printed on the CD itself, an additional booklet with this information would be helpful.
5. Some Bible books are read somewhat too fast by the narrator (eg Jonah).
6. One of the Old Testament narrators is somewhat repetitive and predictable in expression.

Benefits:
1. You can listen to it while you are travelling or are busy doing other things.
2. You notice things in the Bible that you overlook when you are reading it.
3. You don't need the energy to absorb the Biblical text, unlike reading.
4. You can easily listen to several chapters at a time, or a whole book.
5. Children love listening to the familiar Bible stories - straight from God's Word

Our family has benefited immensely from this product, and you are sure to find the same! Very highly recommended!

Don't be confused -- this is the entire Bible, Old and New Testaments, so don't buy the New Testament separately. There are 64 CDs. They are housed in a zippered case for convenient carrying. The zippered case fits into a slip case which is hole-punched so you can put the whole thing into a three-ring binder if you want. All in all, a very high-quality product and an excellent value. The quality of the CDs themselves is excellent. The dramatization is very unobtrusive -- subtle background music or sounds of nature, couple with different voices whenever someone speaks (God, Eve, Noah, whatever). The narration and other voices are not the least bit hokey and don't detract from the majesty of the material. There is also an introduction to each book to put it into context. Lastly, each chapter is a separate track on the CD, so you can easily find a particular chapter or repeat one. I've owned a couple of cassette versions of the Bible, including the King James version by Alexander Scourby, and this is FAR superior. You can't go wrong with this.

This is the complete New International Version of the Bible in a compressed MP3 format. This format has both advantages and disadvantages. The greatest advantage is that you get the entire Bible on just six CDs. It even comes with a nice fabric CD holder to keep them from getting scratched. The entire Bible can be placed in a common 6 CD changer and listened to at your convenience. The down side of the MP3 format is a problem with the format itself. If you are traveling short distances or only listening for a short while then each time you start to listen it begins at the start of that MP3 track. As a result I found myself often having to listen to the same verses over and over because I didn't listen to it long enough to go to the next track. The Zondervan company has done a good job of ameliorating this problem to some extent by putting each chapter on its own track, but some chapters are long and so it is still a problem at times. With a true audio CD my player will pick up in the middle of a song or wherever I left off, not so with the MP3 format.

The actual dramatized reading of the Bible is excellently done and I am very impressed with it. My experience with similar products from other publishers has been that the dramatization is highly overacted and includes background music that more suited to a Cecil B. DeMille movie than an audio Bible. Zondervan strikes a perfect balance between the dramatization and the reading such that it is a joy to listen to and effectively pulls the listener into the story.

This is the perfect choice for those who plan to listen to it for at least half an hour or more at a time. If you plan to listen for shorter periods of time you may be better off choosing the much larger 64 CD audio product. The perfect combination of size and dramatization makes the NIV Audio Bible: Dramatized a highly recommended choice.

I am by no means a Bible expert. My parents had very little religious influence on me. Now that I'm on my own and in my mid 20's I took it upon myself to find out what it's all about.

I chose the NIV because it's simple and easy to comprehend for me (I get lost with all the "thou's, shalt's, etc." in the King James version). I read a review here once that bashed this NIV bible CD because it wasn't the King James version and it wasn't in "God's words". Well guess what? Unless you speak and read Hebrew they are all translations!

I also chose this CD dramatized version because I'm on the road 4hrs a day along with a regular 8hr work day and have very little time to sit down and read.

The dramatization really helps to visualize the scenarios. On rare occasions it does get slightly cheesy, but overall it's very tasteful.

If you're new to religion and/or need something laid out right in front of you in plain simple English this is EXACTLY what you need!

Worth every cent!

This is what I have been waiting for, the Bible on CD, in a great small sized CD case, in a good version-like the NIV. 64 CDs in all, organized well, in a CD holder that is only like 12" long, by 8" across, by 2 1/2" wide. I have had the Bible on tape for a long time, but they wear out, so I am glad to get the Bible on CD (also these CDs have a lifetime guarantee). Its perfect for keeping on the desk, by the bed, or with you on the go. It can easily fit in a back pack and is perfect for taking along in the car. The CDs sound great. And Amazon has a nice price on the set (Not much more then getting the NIV Bible in print, in leather). If your looking for a good version of the Bible on CD, and in a nice small size CD holder, this is it.

SUMMARY

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A useful product, with some caveats. Not really a replacement for careful study of the Word.

PROS

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1. An good way to be in the Word when you're able to listen intently but reading is not practical (e.g. when driving or walking abbout).

2. Hearing the Word read aloud can help you notice things you wouldn't if you were just reading.

3. In general, good voice acting quality (but see commments below).

4. Compact format: the whole Bible on just 6 discs. Comes with its own CD wallet which is slim and fits easily in a glove compartment.

5. Interesting and sometimes meaningful book summaries (but see below).

CONS

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1. Lack of footnotes discussing textual variants, etc., is absent, which can sometimes impact the interpretation of a text.

2. Voice acting quality varies. Some readers have a style that you might not like. I felt the reader for 1-2 Peter, for example, was too dogmatic. Also, voice acting necessarily requires interpretation on the part of the reader in terms of tone, stress, and inflection. This has the potential to affect your understanding of the Bible's message.

3. Introductions reflect a clear evangelical bias (this may be a pro depending on your background)

4. Background music and sound effects feel budget. Background music feels like elevator music in that it lacks emotive movement to accompany the feel of the passage. Sound effects lack variety.

5. MAJOR: All MP3's are strung together into one long list. This makes navigation of the discs a pain. It's not a big deal if you're using a computer, but it's definitely a pain if you're using the CD in a car. If you want to listen to Jude, for example, you have to insert the Acts-Revelation disc, then click the fast foward button repeatedly until you reach the book you want. That's a LOT of clicking and a waste of time. Not to mention a dangerous distraction while you're driving.

[Note: This can be remedied by doing the following:

1) Copy the files to a hard drive.

2) Make folders for each book of the Bible.

3) Move the files into the appropriate folders.

4) Burn new CD's.

Why it is incumbent upon the end user to do this, I don't understand; it's something that the publisher should've done.]

I think I speak for many out there in cyber land that know that they should read the bible more but have trouble finding time, have problems pronouncing the names in the Old Testament, are slow readers and so reading a couple chapters takes more time than we'd like out of our day etc...suffice to say there are a lot of valid excuses for not being able to get into God's word on a daily basis. The NIV Audio Bible takes care of these issues.

Narration: I, personally, am a slow reader but the narrator of this cd is not. The pace is slow enough for the slow readers among us to follow along while moving at a fast enough pace to keep things going. I was new to the whole idea of a dramatized version of the bible but have become a fan. Any time a book is dramatized there is a risk over doing it and taking the attention away from where it should be but thankfully that is not the case here. The dramatization is subtle enough to make the point and make the scriptures come alive as if in a movie which in my opinion helps you remember them more - after all, it's scientifically proven that the memory is better when more than one sense is being employed. In this case you have the sense of sight (if you're following along with a written version), sense of hearing as well as the sense of imagination as you can't help but picture the scene in your head.

Value: You get a good value with this cd collection as you'll get an introduction to the Old and New Testaments, an introduction to each book and then the books themselves. I don't know about you but I had never taken the time to read the Introduction to anything. Instead I've always skipped the intros and went immediately to the book itself that I was wanting to read. This version is unabridged as well which means that it's the full bible with nothing left out.

How to use: This may seem like a stupid heading (how to use) but bear with me. You can obviously pop it in your cd player at home but you'll have other choices as well because of the way the tracks are set up. Each introduction and each chapter of each book is a separate track, so, you have the option of ripping it to your hard drive (I ripped it at 96 Kbps and it took up 3.13 GB's of space). When you rip it to your hard drive you will then have the option to transfer what you want to your .mp3 player of choice to listen to in the car (or you can obviously play the cd itself in the car but run the risk of it getting damaged). As it's on your computer you'll also have the choice of listening to it from your computer as well. For me personally, I have it all on my .mp3 player so I listen to the bible in the car as well as in front of the computer in my office.

I purchased both the dramatized and voice only cds. I thought I would prefer the voice only, but after hearing the dramatized version I have not gone back to the voice only.

It is not too dramatized, just right. It has a soft flavor too it, so it is pleasant to listen to before bed. I listen to them while I am getting ready for work, in the car, just before going to sleep, and with my bible at study time. It is nice to know how to correctly pronounce the biblical names.

I am also buying a set for my boyfriend for his birthday that is coming up, and will be buying some for friends at Christmas.

It is a fantastic purchase. It makes reading the whole bible easy, even if you have a busy schedule. :0)

This is what I have been waiting for, the Bible on CD, in a great small sized CD case, in a good version-like the NIV. 64 CDs in all, organized well, in a CD holder that is only like 12" long, by 8" across, by 2 1/2" wide. I have had the Bible on tape for a long time, but they wear out, so I am glad to get the Bible on CD (also these CDs have a lifetime guarantee). Its perfect for keeping on the desk, by the bed, or with you on the go. It can easily fit in a back pack and is perfect for taking along in the car. The CDs sound great. And Amazon has a nice price on the set (Not much more then getting the NIV Bible in print, in leather). If your looking for a good version of the Bible on CD, and in a nice small size CD holder, this is it.

Overall this is an excellent version of an audio Bible, but the voice of Jesus is offensive to me - at times He sounds either weak, viscious, or just downright laughable! Since I've heard His voice, I found this very distracting. The voices of the disciples and patriarchs aren't what I imagined, and the voices of Satan, the pharisees and the demons all sound alike. But these are subjective observations. The undramatized portions are narrated very well. The music is unobtrusive, if you can hear it at all. (I would have preferred some crescendo in the more dramatic passages and I don't consider it "fully orchestrated" as described.) On the whole, audio Bibles are great for listening to and help enormously in recalling scripture. But if you've heard the Lord's voice, or even have a preconceived notion of what it should sound like, I highly recommend that you go to other websites, i.e. biblegateway.com, thebiblesource.com, where you can hear audio samples of the different versions before you purchase one. Had I done so, I would have bought the same version in undramatized format.